The Bank of Ghana’s new Financial Inclusion for Persons with Disabilities (PWDs) Directive will require financial service providers to provide disabled customers with equitable and non-discriminatory access to products, services and premises. 

The Directive aims to promote access and usage of financial services by PWDs, and to establish a framework for financial service providers to create policies and procedures, and provide facilities, which remove the barriers which currently hinder disabled people from accessing and using financial services.  

This includes ensuring that PWDs can access premises, providing priority service for PWDs, having sign language-trained staff, conducting disability inclusion training for staff and agents at least twice a year, designing digital and mobile financial services for equitable access, and placing ATMs at convenient heights. 

Financial service providers will need to submit annual reports on their disability inclusion activities to the Bank of Ghana, and those falling short of the Directive’s requirements risk fines and further remedial measures. 

During its development, the Directive benefited from peer review by Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, Bank of Tanzania, and Banca d’Italia.

Video by ChannelOneTV, Ghana